Bound to You
by Nova Raven
Summary: Matt's had a headache for the past couple of days. When everything boils over choices must be made...
1. Chapter 1

This story falls in the same universe as 'All I Ever Wanted' and 'The First Night Back'. You don't really need to read them, but this is almost a direct sequel to 'All I Every Wanted' so it'll make more sense.

Heads up, unlike the stories previous in this series, this story is M rated for graphic content. If you've read 'All I Ever Wanted' you know what that means.

* * *

When Matt was little, he had had images and fantasies of what his life would be like at sixteen. Little Matt had expected to be popular, maybe have a girlfriend (although girls were still kind of gross at that age) and to be in a band with his best friends. It hadn't been too elaborate, but definitely spoke of the chaos his life had spiraled into that he never could have anticipated.

Yes, he did have all those things, but he was also a Regent of Earth, with wings and laser vision, who was dating a girl who was a Guardian of the Veil, and could turn into a fairy at will with four of her best friends and was taxed with saving the world.

Therefore, when Matt woke up with a pounding headache after yet another nightmare of the events that had given him his powers and the abuse surrounding it, it felt like just another day in the life of Matt Olsen.

"Ugh…" He moaned and rolled over to shut off his alarm. This was the third day of the headache, and it was getting progressively worse. Advil wasn't even helping. Matt muttered a string of foul language as he set about getting ready for school. This was ridiculous. At this point, he would accept no less than a tumor slowly expanding to kill him as an excuse for this constant headache.

He glanced at this phone, seeing a text from Will. He smiled briefly, then winced as the movement set off more pounding.

 _Good morning :)_ _,_ the message read, _Headache any better?_

 _No,_ he responded vehemently. _Nightmares again too…_

Will was still the only one who knew the full extent of what had happened to him at Mount Thanos, of the torture and… he still had a hard time wrapping his head around that other bit. Didn't help that he hadn't remembered it all at first. He kinda wished that he hadn't remembered anything at all…

He glanced down at his phone, not having realized that Will had replied. _Maybe Yan Lin will know something_ , the message read. _Otherwise you should probably go to the doctor._ Matt sighed. Out of all the places that he was willing to go, facing a doctor and possibly having them figure out what had happened to him by a misplaced flashback ranked incredibly low on his list.

It wasn't exactly that he was ashamed. He knew cognitively that what had been done to him was not his fault, and at the time he had been completely helpless against an evil ex-guardian hell bent on revenge, but Matt was the type to try to downplay his own trauma, even though, as Will had pointed out, what he had gone through would be a nightmare for anyone.

"Matt, sweetie, you ready for school?" His mom called out, jerking Matt out of his head.

"Yeah Mom, I'm coming…" Rubbing his temples Matt braced himself for the school day…

ooo

 _Nerissa was happy. Happy for the first time in a long time. With the elemental guardians as her loyal protectors, the universe was at peace for the first time in a long time. Her son and husband loyally at her side, life couldn't get any better._

 _Except… Nerissa suddenly remembered a dark winged angel, the slave she had possessed, who had loyally seen to her every need. Her Dear Heart, who had brought her such joy. She missed her Dear Heart. And so, Nerissa reached out to the mental link that had been so long dormant and severed, and started to rebuild it_

ooo

"Are you alright, Mr. Olsen?" It was the teacher's voice that broke Matt out of his head. Gritting his teeth in an effort to function past the pain in his skull, he met his science teacher's eyes.

"Ugh, yeah," He mumbled, finding the attention of the entire class on him, "Just a massive headache." That had to be it. It was around one, and he was finding it harder and harder to function past the pain.

The teacher, Mr. Chase, looked concerned. Did he really look that bad? "Do you need to go lay down in the infirmary?" He asked.

Matt considered it, and then decided it wasn't like he was focused on the lecture anyway. He nodded, eyes half closed, and tried to stand, almost blacking out at the surge of pain as he stood. He must have yelled, or swayed wildly or something, because he next found himself supported by Mr. Chase, the balding black man looking very alarmed, surrounded by concerned whispers from his classmates. "Mr. Olsen…" the teacher started.

"No, it's fine, I've had worse," Matt insisted weakly, and the truth was that he had. He had just known that it was from a psycho witch who was torturing him.

Matt's vision was turning fuzzy at the edges, and he struggled free from Mr. Chase's support. But he wasn't. Matt knew this feeling. He was about to pass out. "I'm going to the infirmary," He gasped. But he barely stumbled out the door before the pain in his head exploded into an inferno and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

ooo

The sirens of an ambulance rang through the school, jerking Will out of her math-induced stupor. Will jerked up, noticing the rest of the class had turned their heads to see an ambulance pull up in front of the school.

 _What's going on?_ Will thought, and conspiring whispers from students surrounded her as Mr. Collins tried futilely to get their attention back. A few moments passed before someone was taken away in a stretcher. "Who was that?" Someone asked.

Will frowned. She had a really bad feeling that she couldn't shake.

It wasn't until later she realized what had happened. She left mercifully left the school at the end of the day, looking forward to meeting Matt and discussing her day. At first, she thought he was just late. But as 20 minutes passed, she started to get anxious, and the bad feeling in the pit in her stomach intensified.

"Shouldn't Matt have gotten here by now?" Taranee asked, looking around for their errant team member.

"That's what I'm thinking," Will said, pacing nervously. "Where is he? He didn't say that he was staying after." She glanced at her phone, checking against that he hadn't texted her.

"Have you texted him?" Taranee looked at her. "Chill girl, he's probably got a good reason."

"I just don't feel right," She insisted. Finally, she gave into her instincts and dialed Matt's number.

The phone rang for a nerve-rackingly long time, before a female voice picked up. "Hello?" She answered tiredly.

"Uh… Matt?" Will asked, instincts suddenly on edge. She remembered what had happened the last time she hadn't been able to get a hold of Matt.

"Oh, Will," And she finally recognized the voice Matt's mom.

"Is Matt okay? What happened?" Will demanded, heart racing.

"You didn't..." His mom paused, "Matt's in the hospital. He passed out during class today and he won't wake up."

"What!" Will yelled. Instantly her mind flew to the flashbacks she had seen.

Taranee's eyes were wide. "What's going on?"

Will met her eyes, terrified. "Matt's in the hospital."

ooo

 _And then, he was there, standing before her like he had so many times. Nerissa reached forward, placing a hand on the gold mask in front of her. "Hello Dear Heart," She crooned._

 _"_ _Hello Mistress," Shagon replied._

 _ooo_

 _It took Matt quite a while to come to. Or maybe it didn't. His sense of time he had learned was incredibly unreliable when it came to waking up from unconsciousness. Something he had learned the hard way._

 _There was something eerily familiar about the way he was waking up. He woke up with no control over his body. There was something familiar on the edges of his vision, and then he realized what it was and where he was all at once._

 _Oh God, he was back, she was back. No, no, no…_

 _Wait… it was just a nightmare. He just had to wake himself up. Except he didn't recognize the events. This was something new. Everything around him was different. He was in a throne room, where the elemental guardians stood guard. Nerissa looked young and beautiful. What was going on?_

 _"_ _Welcome to my kingdom, Dear Heart," Nerissa murmured, running her hands over his body. It was his Regent form, but like in his nightmares, he had no control over his body. It was happening again._

 _Your Kingdom? Matt wanted to demand, but a much more pleasant, "Your kingdom mistress?" was forced out of his mouth._

 _"_ _Yes my Dear," Nerissa's hands had crept to his wings and Matt cringed in his head. He hated this part. "After I escaped the crystal and took over the Guardians, I became the supreme leader of the universe, bringing peace finally." Matt struggled to think past the sensations wracking his body through his wings. Nerissa had discovered that his wings in this form were the fastest way to make his body react, despite all his protests._

 _He was in some alternate world where Nerissa had won. The one the Yan Lin had discussed Nerissa had painted for herself in his mind to satisfy her while she was trapped in the crystal. "But how am I here mistress?" He asked, and cringed as a rumbling groan made its way out of his chest. Curse his wings…_

 _"_ _I never destroyed the mental link we shared Dear Heart," Nerissa explained, grabbing a handful of feathers to tug him to his knees. "I just had to bring it back."_

 _That must have been the headache, Matt realized. "You have a bond to my quintessence," Matt whimpered from the stimulation, hating that his body was betraying him again. "And I have missed you, Dear Heart…" Matt felt a wave of helplessness sweep over him. She must have reached out from the crystal to find him then._

 _"_ _Now shift back into your human form," Nerissa commanded, and Matt just prayed that Will and the guardians would be able to say him this time, "I miss the noises you make…"_

 _ooo_

Will sat at Matt's bed, holding his hand with hers, not sure what to do for him. At least with the flashbacks they had developed a routine to pull him out of his head, but Will had tried every trick she knew had worked in the past and nothing had happened.

Matt had been taken to the hospital and checked by the people there. His heart rate was elevated, but other than that, the doctors could find no reason for the fact that Matt just seemed to not wake up. Every other function of his brain was working fine, but Matt just wasn't reacting to voices. He would sometimes flinch at physical contact, but other than that, no one could get through to him.

It wasn't a flashback. At least, not as the flashbacks usually went. Usually they were much more violent, and involved shouting and begging. But Matt was just laying there. His fists were clenched and every muscle was tense, but aside from the occasional whimper, he was silent. Will wiped the sweat off his forehead again. "Help me Matt," She whispered. "I need to know how to help you."

His mother had scarcely left her son's side. Will cast a look at her tired, worried face, but didn't know what to say. Sarah Olsen didn't know everything her son had been through, and couldn't possibly understand. Not that it helped Will to know. She knew Matt had had a pretty bad headache, and had suggested so to the doctors, but MRI scans came back with no indications of any malignant growth or swelling to cause it. Magic was the only solution that made logical sense to Will, but how could she explain that to anyone else? She couldn't. And with Matt in the hospital she had no way of talking to Yan Lin about what was going on.

"Will?" Will was startled at Sarah's voice. She looked up to meet the woman's eyes. "Do you know what's going on in Matt's life?"

Will blinked owlishly at her for a moment, not sure how to respond to that question. "Uh… what?" She finally settled on.

Sarah looked at her hands. "I used to hate you," She said bluntly, and Will felt color rise in her cheeks. "Matt changed so much when you two started dating. He became more secretive, and then he went through that whole rebellious phase…" Will winced. The Shagon Phase. "And I thought it was because of you. Because you were the only thing that changed."

"That dark period was really hard for me too," Will snapped defensively.

Sarah nodded, "I know that now," She continued. "I've seen you two together and I know he's happy. He's just been… different, since everything happened, and that worries me, as his mother. He has the eyes and demeanor of a much older man." She raised her eyes to Will. "You and all of your friends do too."

Will laughed nervously. "What do you mean?"

"When my brother… Matt's uncle, went off on deployment with the Army I saw it happen to him. I know he saw active war zones, and the younger brother I had known had been replaced with a much older man, with haunted eyes." She chuckled briefly, before resuming quietly, "It seems silly, but I see that look in you and Matt's eyes and I can't imagine why. What have you all been through?" There was earnest curiosity in her eyes, and Will hated that she had to lie to Sarah.

"Uh… just school, I guess…" Did they really look like soldiers? Will felt like she had changed on the inside but she hadn't realized that it was projected outside of her mind.

Sarah just looked at her, and Will didn't know what else to say, so she shifted her gaze to Matt's face. Every muscle in his face was tensed, and she went to brush his sweat soaked hair off his face. As her fingers brushed against his face, she felt brief twinges of fear and panic that weren't her own. Will gasped, pulling her hand back quickly. She could feel the ball of energy that was her quintessence reaching out to Matt, and, ignoring Sarah's questions if she was okay, pressed her hand against his cheek.

 _She was on top of him again, his limbs all restrained to the ground by some unknown forced as she used him and his body. She giggled as she zapped him lightly with electricity, and even as he convulsed at the pain, he moaned at the arousal the stimulation had him conditioned to feel._

 _This. This was almost worse than the torture. He could hate the torture and be in pain, but this… this made his body betray him in the worse way possible._

 _"_ _Come on Dear Heart, I want you to enjoy this too…" She slapped him across the face, "I know you like the rough handling, I can feel how much you like it…" And she ground her pelvis into his, as all he could do was whimper pathetically. Because somewhere in this screwed up world his body had learned to take the abuse and turn it into the fastest way to get him going._

 _"_ _Come on Dear Heart, I want to see you and hear how much you love this…" His cries cut off as she grabbed his throat. No… no no no no no…_

 _"_ _Come Dear Heart, and I want to hear you enjoy it." As the endorphins from oxygen deprivation started to creep in, Matt almost sobbed as his body arched and he did as he was told._

 _For a moment, he could have sworn he saw Will out of the corner of his eye. But he looked again and she was gone._

 _Must have been his imagination…_

"Oh God," Will fell back from the bed, her stomach roiling as though there were live serpents in it. She was going to throw up…

"Will…" Will threw herself into the bathroom in Matt's hospital room and lost her lunch violently. There were tears flowing down her face and snot dripping from her nose but she couldn't stop, couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Knowing it was one thing, but seeing it…

She slowly became aware of someone holding her hair back and stroking her shoulder as she hung over the toilet bowl, crying profusely. "Will, Will, what's going on," Sarah was scared and worried but Will still needed to wrap her head around what she had just seen. That… that couldn't have been a memory… Nerissa was still old the first time she had taken him. She had been young in this… and the sheer force of the quintessence Will had felt…

A crazy theory struck her so hard that she gasped and started choking on the liquid still left in her throat. "No," She whispered, "Oh please dear God, no!"

"Will! What's going on?" Sarah sounded terrified. Will fumbled for toilet paper, trying to wipe her mouth and face off quickly. She needed to talk to Yan Lin now. If what she was thinking had happened had happened…

"I uh… I'm so sorry Mrs. Olsen, I'll try to explain later, but I have to go." Will stood up quickly, tearing out of the hospital room, disturbing many of the staff. She felt bad, but she had to know.

She found an elevator. Heart pounding, she waited for the elevator doors to close before she teleported herself into the Silver Dragon basement.

"Yan Lin!" She cried, casting her eyes everywhere for the woman. No one was in the basement, so she tore up the stairs to the restaurant. There, she found Yan Lin and Mira calmly tending to the restaurant, and must have been quite a shock in her state. She found the stares of all the restaurant's customers on her, but could only gasp, "Yan Lin, I need to talk to you. Now." Yan Lin nodded at Mira, and the old woman hurriedly followed Will back down into the basement.

"Will, what is…?"

"Could Nerissa influence people from inside the crystal?" Will rushed out, cutting off the former Guardian. "Could she somehow reach outside and make a mental connection with someone out here?"

Yan Lin seemed confused, and then pondered it. "Perhaps. She would have had to have had a very strong mental bond with the person before hand…"

"Would her connection with Matt have been strong enough?" Will saw the moment Yan Lin connected the dots. The woman knew what had transpired yesterday through Hay Lin, and once she made the connection, started to more seriously consider it.

"It would have been her Quintessence that turned him into Shagon to begin with," Will continued, "Could enough of it have lingered to connect them? And…" She paused, because this was the part she was less sure about, "And could his sensitivity to quintessence allow me to get into his head?"

Yan Lin cast her a strict look. "Looks like you have a lot to tell me," She said quietly.

And so Will filled her in on the events that had transpired, although she left out the exact details of the things she had seen, referring to it vaguely as "torture". Yan Lin's eyes were wide by the end of the story. "Has anything like this ever happened between you two before?" She asked.

"Um… we had like one time when I felt his emotions really strongly but that's about it…"

Yan Lin sat down, still thinking. "There's an old legend," She started, "That one of the past Keepers of the Heart of Kandrakar had a lover and protector. The Heart allowed them to have a deep bond, connecting them even across distances, because the Heart knew that that it had found a protector."

"You say that like it's sentient," Will said, confused.

"In a very animal sense," Yan Lin elaborated. "I have not heard of it since, but perhaps this is what has occurred. The Heart has chosen Matthew as a protector, and therefore bound the two of you." Yan Lin cast a look at her, "Perhaps strengthened by the fact that Matthew too carries a Heart with him."

"So you think that's why I could get into his head?" Will asked.

"It could also be his sensitivity to quintessence," The woman suggested, "But if Nerissa truly has trapped his mind inside the crystal, it may be your best chance to get him out."

And so it was that Will and Yan Lin and Hay Lin found themselves in the hospital at 2 am, prepared to try to break into Matt's head.

She felt kind of bad, as morally breaking into people's heads made her feel like Nerissa, but it was the only way she could think of to try to pull Matt out of wherever he was.

Will didn't miss Hay Lin's little gasp of pity when she saw Matt's state, and tiptoed around the room. Yan Lin looked at Hay Lin. "Just like we practiced," She whispered. Will and Hay Lin were both transformed, so as to pump up their powers to the max. Hay Lin took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Will heard what almost sounded like a pop in front of her. The Asian girl's pigtails were waving in some unseen breeze, and she held her hands a few inches apart, slowly spreading them so that it almost appeared that she was pressed against a wall.

As Hay Lin did so, the sound from the outside of the room basically disappeared. The way Yan Lin had explained it to them, Hay Lin had sucked all the air out of a region the width and height of the room, and about a foot thick, creating a vacuum that sound couldn't penetrate.

When all the sound from the outside was gone, Yan Lin looked at Will and nodded. "I don't know what will happen to you in there, but I will do my best to keep you grounded out here," Yan Lin promised.

Will nodded nervously. She flexed her hands, cracking some knuckles as she approached Matt's bedside. She took a deep breath, and gently placed her hands on his face.

 _Her guardian form allowed her to control the descent into Matt's mind more carefully, and she found herself walking down what she perceived to be a hallway, one in a place that resembled Elyon's castle. The air rippled with energy and Will could feel the vast amount of quintessence not quite hers but so much like her own with every breath. She could hear Nerissa's voice and Matt's screams in the distance, but resisted the urge to run in yelling._

 _Yan Lin had emphasized the fact that she needed to go in there and do her best to not be seen. If Nerissa began to doubt the reality of her fantasy, it would spell trouble for all of them. Instead, she started flying so that no one would hear her footsteps._

 _Sticking to the shadows in the ceiling of the hallway, she flew towards the voices, finally making out what they were saying._

 _"_ _Beg me for it!"_

 _"_ _Please mistress!"_

 _Screams. "I don't think you really want it!"_

 _"_ _God, I do, I do, please, mistress please!"_

 _More screaming. "I want to hear you say it!"_

 _Sobbing. "Please mistress, I want you use me!"_

 _"_ _And…?_

 _"_ _And let me enjoy it if it pleases you!"_

 _Will felt sick again. She knew that Matt's body was safe, but his mind was being violated over and over again. And she couldn't step in to stop this._

 _Will was forced to watch as Nerissa violently raped her boyfriend again. He tried to stifle his sobs, but Nerissa would find a way to bring them to the surface again. Will could feel the conflict and anguish throbbing through his body and mind, as she could tell he was physically enjoying it, even as his mind screamed violation._

 _She and Matt hadn't even gotten this far. They had been too young and neither had been ready when it came up the first time, and after Will had found out about what happened, she had walked on eggshells any time they were physically intimate. Matt hardly ever let her touch him, and she could see why._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry," She whispered, as tears ran down her cheeks. She hated that she couldn't step in and do something to stop this. She had to wait until Nerissa had taken her fill and left before she could go in. At least, she hoped Nerissa would leave at some point. For all she knew Nerissa's dream world was just abusing Matt all day._

 _Matt cried out as his body released and Will closed her eyes. She shouldn't be seeing this. She shouldn't be privy to this horrible, horrible thing._

 _Nerissa forced Matt through this cycle four times, and she could tell it just hurt her boyfriend by the end of everything. Finally, finally, Nerissa climbed off Matt as he lay, panting and crying on the ground. "Thank you Dear Heart, that was lovely."_

 _She waved her hand and Matt was hoisted up into the air by his wrists above the throne in the room, put on display for all to see. Will felt sick again, but she watched as Nerissa finally left, with the creepy, elemental guardians following her out._

 _Peering around the room from her corner, it finally seemed empty. She flew straight towards Matt, who was still sobbing pathetically. He was naked, but Will barely noticed as she flew up to him and embraced him tightly, crying. At first, he flinched at the contact, but slowly seemed to realize the reality of the situation. A voice hoarse from screaming met her ears. "Will?"_

 _"_ _I'm here Matt, I'm here." She whispered, not wanted to let go, but pulling back as Nerissa could be back any minute._

 _"_ _How…?" Matt whispered._

 _"_ _I'll tell you when you wake up," She told him, trying her best to stay in guardian mode and not collapse sobbing into his arms like the scared fifteen year old she was._

 _There was a concentrated band of quintessence holding Matt's wrists about his head that she could sense, and when she reached up, she was able to carefully dissolve it. Matt dropped into her arms heavily and she pulled him over her shoulder. Looking around quickly, she flew back towards the tunnel she had entered through._

 _It seemed longer this time, and darker. And Will felt much more of a resistance trying to keep her from bringing Matt back out. She clutched at the energy that was her quintessence, focusing on her own power to fight this world surrounded by Nerissa's._

 _"_ _She'll just bring me back." Will didn't register Matt's voice at first. But when she did, her heart dropped._

 _"_ _What do you mean?" She asked, dread growing in her stomach._

 _"_ _Nerissa told me," He said quietly, defeat in every word that he spoke. "We're connected. Her energy is connected to mine. Even if you take me out, she'll just bring me back." He sounded dead, and Will hated the defeat in his voice._

 _"_ _She's never getting you back," Will snapped. "Because you're connected to my energy too and I'm not letting you go. You're mine." And she felt a tendril of her energy flow out from where it was contained in her Heart, and join with energy that was Matt._

 _And then suddenly, they weren't in a dark hallway anymore. They were on a floor, with no walls and ceiling that Will could perceive. It all seemed to be swirling pink and white energy._

 _And then Will caught a glimpse of Matt… or rather, where she knew Matt to be. She could vaguely see his outline, but what really stood out to her was his energy. She could see the swirling deep green power of the third of the Heart of Earth he carried, his own calming light blue energy, but she could see the dark energy that infected him at his core from Nerissa, and the smallest signs of a white/pink energy she knew to be her own._

 _Not knowing how she knew to do it, she reached out with her hands, which she perceived as pure white energy, grabbed the dark energy, and pulled. And as she pulled the dark power from his chest, she could see it slowly deteriorate, and her own energy fill in the spaces that it left. Nerissa couldn't have him, he belonged to her._

 _With a bright pulse of energy, the darkness that had resided at his core was filled with light, with pure, good, energy from her auramere. The white energy and the green from the Heart of Earth and blue from his essence swirled together, the brightness that should have been blinding but wasn't because she could see Matt's energy, Matt's soul truly becoming free from Nerissa for the first time in years… There was a moment of content and peace_

And then Will slammed back into her body. She would have collapsed had Yan Lin not caught her, but even as it was, her legs felt weak and she felt as though she could have passed out.

When she finally managed to open her eyes and look around, Yan Lin's eyes met hers, and they were full of absolute shock. "What did I…?" She asked, but then heard a groan from Matt's bed. "Matt!" She cried, stumbling to her feet and almost falling to his bedside.

"Will?" Matt barely breathed.

"I'm here Matt, you're here, you're safe," Tears were budding at her eyes and falling by the time Matt opened his eyes.

"You're safe, you're safe. And she can't get to you again. I made sure of it."

Matt smiled, his eyes seeming hopeful for the first time in a long time. "I can feel it," He said. "Thank you Will."

In the joyful reunion between the two, neither noticed Yan Lin's barely disguised concern and the ever so slight lines of anger that had grown on her face.

* * *

Chapter Two coming soon, where we find out exactly what Will did...


	2. Chapter 2

Matt was released the next day, as doctors were unable to explain what had happened and chalked it up to a medical miracle.

Will had had to go to school the next day, but Matt stayed home. Despite her exhaustion, Will felt through the roof. Not only had she managed to save her boyfriend from being abused by Nerissa, she had managed to use her powers in a way she never had before to make sure that Nerissa could never get to him again.

When she relayed the story to the other guardians at lunch, they were pretty psyched too. Horrified at what had happened, but super excited that Will had unlocked a new aspect of her powers and had saved their friend. Will didn't think the day could get any better, until Hay Lin, who until this point had been largely quiet, spoke up. "Will… do you know what happened in the hospital room?"

Confused, Will asked, "What do you mean?"

"Uh, Will…" Hay Lin said quietly, "You went elemental during that."

That silenced everyone instantly. They all remembered the terror of not knowing who they were that came with their zenith forms. All eyes turned to Will. Will felt as though someone had sucked all the air out of her lungs. "What do you mean?"

"You somehow shifted into your elemental form about two hours in, and Matt…" Hay Lin continued quietly. "These bands of white energy started rolling over his skin but they were connected to you like tentacles… Grandma and I didn't know what to do. Grandma thought that the only reason you were able to pull the rest of us out the first time against Cedric was because of your bond with Matt. And then…" She sighed. "You just suddenly turned back, and you were okay, and…"

Will was shaken. "How…?"

"I don't know," Hay Lin said. She paused a moment, and an indecipherable look came over her face. "But after you and Matt talk this afternoon, because I'm sure you will, Grandma wants to see you when the Silver Dragon closes."

There was something in the usually light-hearted air guardian's tone that worried Will. "What's going on?" She asked.

Hay Lin wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. "I'll let Grandma explain," She said, "I don't really fully understand it myself."

With that lovely bit of news, Will felt her high plummet. She made it through the rest of the day on autopilot, just wanting to go see Matt and find out what Yan Lin was talking about.

She wasn't dreading the conversation with Matt per se, but she knew that Matt probably would have preferred her to not see the things she had seen. Although so many of the things he hated her doing made much more sense.

She found herself outside his apartment, still not sure if she was ready for this. Matt answered the door almost without her knocking.

He must have been waiting for her.

"Come on in," He said quietly, opening the door for her.

"Hey," She said, and didn't expect the massive hug she got as soon as the door closed. She hugged him back tightly, but asked, "What's going on?"

"I can feel how worried you are," He answered.

Will nodded, before his choice of verbs struck her as odd. "Wait, feel?" She pulled back from the hug to see his face.

"Yeah… uh…" Matt scratched the back of his head. "I can uh… kinda sense how you feel right now. And uh… always." His eyes widened as he read her confusion and alarm, "And yeah, all day." His brow furrowed, "What happened at lunch?"

Will's mouth was wide open, eyes as big as saucers. "Uh… when did this start?"

"When I woke up this morning," Matt said. "I've discovered I can shield myself from it but… the lunch emotions came through pretty strong and I'm not shielding now." He might have read her face or maybe she was projecting more than she thought, because his next words were, "Yeah, I guess we need to talk, huh?"

"So… yesterday…?" Will started, and Matt winced.

"Yeah," He agreed. "Let's uh… go up to my room, okay?"

Will nodded. He offered his hand and she took it. They climbed the staircase in silence, and made it all the way to his bed together, where they just sat on the edge.

"So… what do you remember?" Will asked, needing somewhere to start.

Matt nodded, seeming to steel himself. "So… I woke up with a massive headache, like I told you, and it got really bad in chemistry and I uh… I passed out." He chuckled suddenly, as though something had just occurred to him. "You know, I am so sick of passing out from pain." It was a comment made in jest, but Will winced and clutched his hand tighter. "Sorry," Matt apologized, but Will shook her head.

"It's okay," She met his eyes reassuringly. "What's the next thing you remember?"

Matt's whole body shook then, and his face twisted. "I guess lying won't make you feel better?" He asked. At Will's resolute gaze, he sighed and continued, "I woke up in Nerissa's alternate world. I guess she summoned me because she missed torturing me." His eyes closed. "That went on until you came and got me."

Will nodded. She had thought so, but not wanted to think about it. Her stomach churned at the memories of what she had witnessed. "Do you remember anything after that before you woke up in the hospital?" She asked.

Matt paused, "Kind of?" He said, head tilting to one side, as though trying to recall. "I feel like I remember your presence, and feeling Nerissa's presence, but then that part of her slowly started fading away and I started feeling your energy stronger and stronger until I was soaked in it and then… and then I woke up."

Will nodded. That sounded about right. "So my turn," Matt interjected. "How much did you see before you set me free?"

Will froze. "Uh…" She started, "Do you really want…?"

"Not really," Matt said honestly, "But I need to know Will," Matt said, turning to grip her shoulders. "Please tell me."

Will nodded, looking down. "I uh…" She swallowed, "I came in when she was forcing you to beg her for… and you were calling her mistress and screaming, and then I had to watch the whole time while she…" She collapsed into tears. Matt pulled her into his arms, but his body was rigid, and it was clear to Will that he was absorbing that she had witnessed his entire rape.

It what silent for a moment except for Will's sniffling, before Matt broke the silence. "So you saw that I liked it?" Matt asked quietly in her ear.

Will stiffened. "What?"

Matt scoffed. "You saw me. You saw what she did to me and that I liked it. I came what, three times?"

"Four," Will interjected, not able to get those details out of her head.

Matt shuddered. "Four times," he agreed. "By the end of it I liked it when she beat me, I liked it when she electrocuted me and forced me to react. God, there has to be something wrong with me…"

Will gripped his face. She had read about this in her research in the aftermath of finding out what had been done to him. "Stop Matt, your body creates all sorts of chemicals during violent situations and some of those can lead to… that reaction. It didn't mean you enjoyed it, there's nothing wrong with you."

"But it doesn't stop there," Matt cried, as though she wasn't getting the point. "Did you know I woke up from a wet dream this morning in which it was you torturing me?" Will froze, and he continued, "You were slapping me, and shocking me, and riding me until I-" His voice cut off on a yell of pain.

Will jerked back, just now noticing the sparks dancing on her finger tips. "Oh God, Matt, I'm so sorry…" And then she felt a jolt of arousal so intense it made her shake. But it wasn't from her. She met Matt's eyes, seeing desperation, anguish, and lust in his eyes. She looked down at his crotch and saw that it wasn't just his eyes displaying arousal. Another throb came through their bond, and she was sure now that was what it was, to her and Will whimpered with the power of it.

"Matt I…"

"Will, please…" And it was that tone that made her harshly press her lips against him and slam him down against the bed. Matt groaned into her mouth, thrusting his hips up against hers where they were pressed together. She didn't know what had come over her, but she needed to prove that he was hers, not Nerissa's, not some broken monster, but _hers._

"Will…" Matt moaned, thrusting up against her as she grabbed his chin to start nibbling at his neck. "Harder," He groaned harshly, "Bite me." And for some reason she listened, and bit him hard on the side of his neck, and he sucked in air and let out a broken moan that Will had never heard before.

"Shirt off, now," She commanded, and Matt obeyed instantly. She fell to his chest and stomach, remembering those purple and black bite marks that she had seen and needing to replace them with marks of her own. The harder she bit, the louder and higher Matt keened, and those noises were interspersed with whimpers and moans of, "Please Will please, God, yes…"

"You're mine, Matt, mine," She growled possessively, having no idea what had come over. "She can't have you because you belong to me."

Matt cried out, his hips bucking up into her, "Yes, yes, God, Will please…"

"She will never touch you again," Will asserted. She felt his arousal pumping through her, mixing with the energy that they shared and creating a maelstrom that she wouldn't be able to fully recall if asked about it later. Somehow she found herself climbing on top of him, their pants and undergarments lost to the wayside, and she was sinking down onto him, and they were both moaning and crying out in ecstasy, and sparks were running all over her skin and up and down her arms and if Matt felt them it only made him hornier and then she was bent down with her arms around her neck and he was thrusting into her for all he was worth and then…

Everything broke. There was a crash of the energy that had built up so high between the two and something was shattering and they were yelling and crying out their releases… for one perfect moment everything made sense. They were joined mentally and physically and everything was perfect.

Of course, reality had to set in. The euphoria slowly faded, like a bright light slowly dimming back to normal, and that was when Will finally came back to herself. She was lying on top of Matt, their bodies sticky with sweat and Will slowly realized exactly what they had just done.

"Oh God," She whispered, but didn't have the energy to move. "Did we just…?"

"Yeah," Matt confirmed, out of breath, his arm flopping off her back and onto the bed. "I think we did." He let out a breath. "Wow…"

"Amen to that," Will agreed. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head from its position in the middle of his chest. The first thing she saw was the angry red mark rapidly turning purple on Matt's neck. "Oh God," She weakly clambered off Matt and saw the start of dark bruises from bite marks on Matt's chest, and deep red gouges in series of fours that must have come from her nails. "Oh God…"

Either Matt had started to freak out too, or he was reacting to the panic feeding across their bond, the bond that Will could clearly feel now, feeling Matt like a constant presence in the back of her mind. He pushed himself up, looking at the new marks on his chest, and she could feel confusion first and foremost from him, but was that also pride? Matt met her eyes, and both of them held the other's gaze for a moment, hearts pounding and breathing racing.

"I'm so sorry, I totally should not have done that, not with that you just went through and-mmph!" Matt cut her off with a kiss. Her arms waved in confusion for a moment, before she relaxed her arms and tried to just enjoy it.

When he drew back, she could feel conflict, but also contentment radiating from him. "I don't regret it," He said evenly. "I mean, maybe it was a bit too soon but uh…" He blushed, "I just needed… you, I guess." His face suddenly contorted in worry, "Did I…?"

"No… I uh… I wanted it…" Will said, pushing her sweaty bangs out of her face.

"I didn't use you…"

"No," Will said. She paused, and then gestured to his chest and neck and general state, "I'm sorry about…"

"Hey, I asked you to," Matt chuckled nervously. "Guess I've got a bit of a pain kink… and besides," He met her eyes, "Proves I'm yours right? Not hers. Yours." He rubbed his neck and winced. "Badges of honor."

Will smiled nervously. "Yeah, I… I guess." Somewhere in her she kind of liked the idea of marking him, and she could see Matt react to that thought, meeting her eyes and then tracing the bite and nail marks on his chest. "Mine," She whispered faintly, looking at them.

Matt nodded, looking at her. "Yours."

Eight o'clock found the two walking up to the Silver Dragon. Matt tried to brush his hair so that it covered the massive hickey on his neck, but a good portion of it still poked out. Will hoped Yan Lin would have the tact not to mention it, but the woman was fairly blunt and it wouldn't surprise her if she did.

When she had told Matt about the conversation during lunch, his demeanor had shifted to worry and concern. As such, both of them were bundles of nerves when they opened the door to enter the Silver Dragon.

The restaurant was quiet, and Yan Lin was sitting at one of the tables. "Come sit," She patted the table and the two teens walked over to her, anxiously awaiting the revelation.

Will half expected the old woman to try to put the two of them at ease, but the serious look on her face didn't falter. "What's going on?" Matt asked when the two had sat down.

Yan Lin looked at them for a moment, her eyes widening momentarily at the mark she clearly saw on Matt's neck. Will's cheeks pinked in embarrassment. Yan Lin finally met her eyes and said, "Will, do you know what you did last night?"

Will was bewildered by this whole situation. "Uh, I pulled Matt out of Nerissa's mind trap? Wait…" Her eyes widened. "Did Nerissa find out?"

"No, no, I checked on that today and she is still happily in her fantasy world, no attempts to escape," Yan Lin reassured her in a flat tone. "I mean, do you know what you did after you pulled Matthew out?"

Will frowned. That whole energy experience was so hard to explain. "I uh… I kinda saw all the energies that made up Matt," She said, and felt surprise through the bond from Matt. "I saw the part of him that Nerissa left behind and I removed it. Permanently."

Yan Lin still didn't seem happy. "But what did you do after that?"

Will shook her head. "I don't understand."

Yan Lin sighed, leaning forward and rubbing her temples. "Do me a favor," She said, "And tell Matthew to do something."

Will had no idea where this was going. "What?"

"Give him an order, and make it specific," Yan Lin's voice was tight.

"Okay, uh…" Matt looked at her in concern. "Matt, get up and do jumping jacks." Matt stood up and started doing jumping jacks. Will glanced back at Yan Lin. "I don't under…"

"Matthew come sit back down," Yan Lin said, but Matt kept jumping.

Will felt confusion and the start of fear coming over the bond towards her. "Matt, what are you doing?" She asked, mirroring his reaction.

Matt's voice was tight when he answered. "I… can't," He said roughly.

"What?"

"I can't stop." Will's eyes widened. They made the realization at the same time.

"Matt, stop jumping," Will said, and he did.

"Clap your hands." He did.

"Stand on one foot." He did.

"Oh God…" Will suddenly realized what was happening. Yan Lin's face was grim, as though they had confirmed her hypothesis.

"Uh… feeling a bit silly here," Matt interjected, frustration clear in his voice.

"Crap! Matt come sit back down and stop clapping." Matt relaxed and joined them at the table with as much efficiency as he had performed the other tasks. "Uh… do what you want," Will said quickly, trying to cover all of their bases. Matt nodded at her gratefully.

"So… what happened?" Will asked, kind of terrified. "What did I do?"

Yan Lin sighed, and leaned back in her chair. "I think," She started, "What when you purged Nerissa's energy, you bound him to yourself in the process." Will remembered back to that place, thinking, _he's mine, Nerissa can't have him, he belongs to me…_ "Oh!" She cried in despair.

Yan Lin nodded. "Not having any experience with that element of your quintessence you merged your energies and bound him to you in the process of removing that energy." She shrugged, "On one hand, it reads a big 'Do Not Touch' sign to those who know what to look for, but on the other, it appears he'll be compelled to obey any direct order you give him…" She cast her gaze to Matt and Will did the same.

Matt's eyes were closed tightly, fists clenched on the table and Will could feel the start of a panic attack coming on over the bond. "Matt, I'm so sorry…"

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Matt asked forcefully, and Will pretended she didn't feel just a bit of hurt at the question. "It's really not you, Will," Matt opened his eyes to look at her. "I just hate the idea of being compelled to obey anyone, given my… history with that… even it it's you."

Will nodded, but Yan Lin was already shaking her head. "It's an incredibly strong bond," She said, "Made stronger by the fact that the two of you just had sex." They both blushed at her comment, but she pretended not to notice. "Unless there was a life threatening situation it would probably do more harm than good to you two to try to remove it."

Fear, pain, anger, frustration, resentment; all sorts of negative emotions rolled over the bond from Matt towards Will. "I… I'm so, so sorry, I really had no idea…"

"I know," Matt said tightly. "I can feel all that." Yan Lin sent them a questioning look, and he said, "We have an empathic bond now." She nodded in understanding.

Matt stood up quickly and started walking away. "Matt, wait, stop," Will called before realizing her mistake. Matt froze awkwardly mid step. Resentment hit her so hard she gasped, saying quickly, "Matt, move as you want but I…" How did she not word this as a command? "I really don't want you to leave."

Matt turned around to look at her, and his eyes were unreadable. "I'm going to the bathroom," He said tightly, and spun on his heel to walk away.

When the door closed Will let out a sob. Things had just been so good and she had screwed up, royally. "I didn't know…" She said quietly. "There's no way I could have…"

"I know," Yan Lin said, and her voice finally had some of the comfort Will had come to know. "But you played with powerful magics you didn't understand and now he is paying the consequences." She gave Will an attempt at a comforting look, "No one will be able to attack him mentally again, but how you handle this new dynamic in your relationship is up to you."

Will nodded, but then a question hit her. "I mean, what did I do wrong? I should have just been able to pull Nerissa's energy out, right?"

Yan Lin nodded. "That is one of the powers of quintessence. However, during this process my guess is that you subconsciously replaced her influence with your own, adding your own energy in its place." Will made a noise of affirmation, remembering seeing the white and green and blue energies melding in Matt's core.

Will scrubbed her face with her hands. Part of her wanted to cry, but then, Matt was the one being jerked around on a leash again. "I'm so sorry," She whispered.

Yan Lin stood up. "We can discuss the full potential of your bond at a later time. Right now, I think you two need some time."

Will could feel Matt coming in over the bond, and she listened, trying to figure out if he wanted her to talk to him or not. She didn't feel hatred, so she felt mildly safe enough to venture to the bathroom.

It was a single, unisex room. Will stood outside the door, pondering if she should knock or just go in when his voice came from inside. "Just come in already, I can feel you worrying in here."

Will flushed and pushed the door open, finding Matt curled into a ball against the wall, not looking at her. "Matt, I'm so…"

"I know," He said, cutting her off, "But that's not going to change anything is it?"

"Matt…" Tears welled up again.

He met her eyes then. "I'm gonna need some time to absorb this, okay? I know you can keep me here until I talk to you no matter what I want…"

"Matt, I wouldn't do that." Will hated the defeated bitterness in his voice. "I didn't want this."

"I know…" Matt said, but she could feel the uncertainty at this statement from the emotional bond they shared. "Right now… I think I need to go home and do some thinking."

Will could feel tears pushing at her eyes, but she nodded. It was the least she could do after doing this to him. Matt shifted forward, cupping her face and kissing her gently. She felt love coming from him, and that calmed her a little, but the negative emotions still lurked on the edges. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," He promised, and then he was gone.

ooo

Despite her exhaustion from the day and previous night, anxiety kept Will up well into the night that night. She didn't know how well Matt would react to all of the girls knowing about this newest development, so Will was up late talking about it to Hay Lin, who she suspected already knew the bulk of it.

"I don't know Will," Hay Lin responded after Will had filled her in through tears that night. "I mean, I can't even imagine having that happen to me and Erik…"

"But I didn't mean to do it," Will said miserably. "And I'd never use this compulsion against him. He's been through so much already and I hate that this time it's me…"

"I mean, look at the bright side," Hay Lin reminded her, "This means that no one can ever mentally control him again right? Grandma said that. And if he's abducted again we have a fast way to find him." Will tried to focus on the positives, she really did, but she kept feeling that having done this to Matt made her no better than Nerissa…

The other girls probably picked up that something was wrong when Matt didn't sit with them at lunch. Irma, always the blunt one, was the first to say something. "Yo, where's Matt? You two are usually inseparable. Especially everything that just went down."

Will colored and the shame and fear from last night rolled over her. She didn't meet anyone's eyes. Irma looked around to make sure that everyone was seeing this, and then leaned forward. "Okay girl, spill, what happened?"

These were her best friends. And she needed their help. "So…" She started quietly. "You guys know how I was able to pull Nerissa's energy out of Matt, right?" They all nodded. "So… turns out, when I did that, I created a bond between us."

"What kind of bond?" Taranee asked.

"Well, it started just being that he could feel my emotions, like, all day at school yesterday, and then I went over there yesterday and…" Will's cheeks turned bright red. "And uh… things happened…"

Cornelia made the connection the fastest. "Wait… Will Vandom did you two have sex?" When Will turned dark scarlet, Cornelia shrieked. "Oh. My. God. Will, you had sex and you didn't tell us?!"

Will buried her face in her hands as Irma and Cornelia pressed forward. Hay Lin's eyes lit up and she realized she hadn't told the Asian girl that detail yet, and Taranee grinned. "Well jeez," Irma teased, "Our little leader was the first one of us to do it!"

"Guys stop…"

"Go Will!"

"I always knew it!"

"It wasn't like…"

"You'd better tell us all about it, girl!"

"Was it good?"

"Was _he_ good?"

"Dude, I don't want to know that!"

"Shut up Taranee!"

"But wait," Cornelia cut off the barrage of words off, "Why aren't you two like, all ooey gooey right now?"

They other girls quieted, meeting Will's eyes. She took a deep breath. "Because of what happened after that." And she filled the other girls in on what Yan Lin had made them realize.

There was stunned silence after that. "You can do that?" Irma asked, shocked.

"I guess," Will offered helplessly.

"Wow," Taranee whispered. "That's heavy stuff." She adjusted her glasses. "What are you two going to do?"

"I don't know…" Will said quietly. "Something? We're going to talk later today…"

Irma rested a hand on Will's shoulder. For once, she seemed to feel offering jokes wasn't appropriate. "We're here for you, girl." She said. "If everything goes badly tonight," She seemed to realize her mistake, "Which it won't!" She asserted quickly, "You know where to find us."

Will smiled at her and the rest of the girls. "Thanks guys," She whispered through a tight throat.

ooo

Will was pacing in her room when Matt knocked on the door. "Oh God," She whispered, "Here goes nothing…"

Matt looked pensive when she opened the door. He took a few steps forward and hugged her tightly. "Hey," He said, his voice rough.

She felt like crying again, but battered it back. "I missed you," Was all she said. She felt Matt nod. They walked up to her room, the scene oddly reminiscent of the previous night. They sat, facing each other on her bed. "So… I've been thinking…" Matt started, "A lot."

Will nodded, not knowing what to say. She was terrified of what he might say next. "I don't blame you," Matt said, catching her gaze earnestly, "I know you really did have good intentions when you did what you did. This is just a really unfortunate side effect." Will's throat was tight, and she didn't have a good answer. "So… we're going to have to set up some ground rules."

Will looked at her hands, folded in her lap, but Matt caught her chin and forced her to look at him. "First off," He started, "Don't make me do stupid stuff for the fun of it and don't just order me around, please?"

"Matt, I wouldn't…"

"And if you accidentally trigger whatever this compulsion is, you have to stop it as soon as you realize," Matt continued. His whole body was tense, and Will could only nod her agreement. "The idea of being someone else's mind monkey terrifies me frankly, and the only thing keeping me together right now is the fact that it's you. Otherwise I uh… I really don't know how I would be handling this…" His voice wobbled a bit at the end and Will just wanted to reach out to him but she didn't know how he would react and…

"I love you," That phrase cut through her mental breakdown and she met Matt's gaze. He smiled gently as he said, "I love you Will Vandom, and if I'm going to be bound to anyone, for life I guess, I'm glad it's you." And he held his arms out.

Will let out a sob and threw herself into his arms. "I was so scared you were going to tell me to never talk to you again," She whispered.

Matt tightened his arms around her. "I could never do that," He said tightly. "Will, what you mean to me…" He choked on his words a little bit. "No one else knows me or my demons like you do. You were there for the hardest part of my life, and…" Will started to feel thick waves of love and emotion pulse over the bond, and she was almost overwhelmed. "And you got me through it. Your love is literally what set me free, and I couldn't ask for anyone more than you."

Will hugged him tighter and whispered certainly, "Mine."

Matt chuckled through his emotions. "Yours. Forever."

She didn't want to let go. She was overwhelmed by the love she felt pulsing through the bond not just to her, but also from her, and knew that Matt could feel it too. They shifted down onto the bed, her head cradled in Matt's chest. The exhaustion and stress from the past few days was starting to catch up with her, and she was just thinking about drifting off when Matt said offhandedly. "Guess I need to find a ring now, huh?"

She was awake instantly. "Wait, what?" A nervous flutter was starting in her stomach, and she looked him in the face.

He grinned at her nervously. "Well, you know, if we're really bound for life I should get you some kind of ring. We're probably a bit young for an engagement ring but I think maybe a promise ring…" She grabbed his face and kissed him silent.

Yeah... she could definitely do this for the rest of her life.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know what you think!


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